Damien Moore: ‘Apology not enough’ for Lib Dem leaflet

8th June 2024

Damien Moore says “an apology is not enough” after a Liberal Democrats election leaflet published misleading vote information.

Liberal Democrat candidate Erin Harvey has stopped the distribution of a campaign leaflet after analysis by OTS News revealed it contained inaccurate election data. The leaflet incorrectly represented the vote shares from the 2024 local election in the new Southport constituency, placing the Liberal Democrats second instead of third.

OTS News has also contacted the Liberal Democrats over a second election leaflet that appears to use the same data.

Damien Moore said: “I am completely bewildered by the actions of Southport’s Liberal Democrats.

“They have distributed two election leaflets which they now admit contain completely false data about the recent local elections. They claimed to have come second, but now admit they came a clear third.

“An apology is not enough. You cannot deliver tens of thousands of leaflets directly to voters with completely false figures, but only ‘correct the record’ via a short post for social media for – at most – a hundred people to see.

“To clarify, in the local elections last month, Labour got 34% of the vote in our new constituency, and the Conservatives got 29%. Just 5% separates us – not the 20% which national polls predict.

“The only way to avoid a Liverpool-based Labour MP in Southport & the Northern Parishes is to lend me your vote on 4th July. A vote for any other party only risks letting Labour in.”